Harry Potter Delay Hits EA’s Wallet
Everything that bears glasses, wands and a distinct lightning-shaped scar practically prints money. Electronic Arts was banking on Harry Potter’s latest adventure to pull in a significant amount of money this year. The film was delayed until Summer 2009 and the game got pushed back along with it. Usually delays are a good thing overall as it often means a company isn’t willing to release the title without some minor yet essential tweaks or a few extra layers of polish. EA’s not so happy though as reportedly the game was on schedule to be 100% finished in time for the film’s debut.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the publishing giant disclosed that they’ve had a major blow dealt to their profits for the year by this delay, to the tune of $120 million dollars. It’s certainly a big setback financially for the company, but they might make up for it since the game will once again be debuting with the film. The question is whether or not the game will benefit from missing this year’s holiday season. It might be good in that it won’t come up against big popular titles, but it might suffer due to other games eclipsing demand for the title when the holiday season comes in 2009.